Protecting Alto's wild horse herd

Avoiding slaughter: Advocates search for a way of protecting the animals

The gelding Rock Star went to auction and probably slaughter. (Courtesy)

(This is the first part of a two-part series on the future of the wild horse herd of Alto, following the sale of three of its members, one to slaughter. In this first part, advocates for the herd express their disappointment and frustration, but hope for the future. The second part will cover the position of the New Mexico Livestock Board and of one of landowners who complained and has been the target of much of the community's anger.)

The first reaction was rage.

When residents around Alto who have protected, cultivated and cared for a herd of wild horses realized a gelding, mare and her yearling were penned, hauled away and possibly sold for slaughter, social media boiled over with anger.

Three of the advocates for the wild horse herd of Alto are, from left, Audrey Breeding, Bruna Campos and Lynda Blaney. (Dianne Stallings — Ruidoso News)

But a week later, wild herd advocates were talking about strategies to protect the horses from a similar tragedy by enlisting public backing for protection of the herd, looking at ways of changing how such herds are classified and handled, and working with the District 20 supervisor for the inspection arm of the New Mexico Livestock Board.

Amid the tears about the possible loss of the gelding called Rock Star, a glimmer of good news emerged that the mare and her yearling were purchased by a Capitan resident.

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The Ruidoso News last week requested copies of the reports about the horses filed by Brand Inspector Don Hatfield and about their ultimate disposition. The reports were received Tuesday, confirming that Hatfield called several people about caring for the horses during the required holding period. The mare and colt were sold by bid to a landowner in Capitan. But records provided by the Livestock Board show that after paying $85 for someone to hold Rock Star, a favorite described as tame and inquisitive, he was sold for $42.

The mare and her colt are pictured several months ago. Fortunately, they were purchased by a Capitan resident. (Courtesy)

59 by Southwest Livestock Auction in Los Lunas. The owner of that business previously was charged with several counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and related violations, according to information from Animals Angels, an advocacy group that conducts undercover investigations.

When Lynda Blaney, one of the key wild herd advocates, received copies of the same reports, she wrote to other herd supporters that she attempted to contact the owner of the auction company in a last ditch attempt to rescue Rock Star, but his voice mail was full. She blogged the business and found the information about the charges. "Largest kill auction in the southwest," she wrote. Accusations included "awful" conditions and brutal treatment of horses. "He is the biggest kill auction in the southwest, funneling horses from all over the United States to slaughter," Blaney wrote.

"We are all sick with this. Had Don Hatfield responded to the many calls asking where the gelding was, had Hatfield informed us of the Livestock Board's lost/found posting policy changes, had he reached out to any of us, if we had pressed to get the case file information earlier (before Rock Star was sold on June 14), this would have ended differently.

"He sat in a pen from May 12 through May 21 at (a local ranch) in Capitan. Had I known, I would have paid any dollar amount and picked him up."

She also noted the only negative comment about the horse in the report was that Rock Star was "roaming" on the land of the person who complained, not that he was a nuisance, violent or dangerous.

"Sadly, when Rock Star was gelded, he should have been adopted and kept safe," Blaney concluded.

Hatfield's handling of the complaint and ultimate disposition of Rock Star was defended by his supervisor Troy Patterson as meeting all of the requirements of the law.

About a dozen residents met Monday to find out more details about why the horses were picked up, what laws apply and to map out a plan for the future. They're looking for thoughts and suggestions. If enough positive feedback is received, a petition will be distributed for signatures to be presented to the Lincoln County Commission, the New Mexico Livestock Board and Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd.

Bruna Campos, who had Rock Star gelded by a local veterinarian in the wild, said she adopted him to a home near Nogal, but after several weeks there, he broke out and returned to her area.

"Our point is the lady who had (Rock Star) gathered up doesn't even live here full time," she said. "We're just trying to keep the herd safe."

Campos stepped up her involvement two years ago after a mare was killed trying to cross New Mexico Highway 48 near the entrance to Alto Lakes Village. She formed a foundation called Ruidoso's Wild Horses.

"We were thinking if we could keep them safe, keep them up the mountain, off the golf courses, because there are so many people who do enjoy the herd," Campos said. "There are tourists at Bottlehouse Cabins, their website always is overflowing by people who stay there and see the horses and want to know how they are doing. They have a following. We're just trying to keep this herd safe and maybe with communication, instead of people calling up and having them sent off to auction and possibly slaughter, hopefully, we can find a way if they do wander onto someone's private property."

The owner of the property also has a responsibility to fence her land, if she doesn't want wild horses trespassing, Campos said. "This is a state where you are supposed to fence your property to keep wild animals out," she said.

The herd is not protected under the wild horse laws commonly applied to herds on Bureau of Land Management ranges, she said. They are treated as stray animals that probably came off the Mescalero Apache Reservation 20 to 30 years ago.

"If you catch one, it has to be on your private property," she said, "Then you do the paperwork to adopt it and pay the fee, yet it is not considered a wild horse. (The livestock board) is not responsibility for them and they are not protected like wild horses." Once adopted, they need to be kept fenced, she said.

Herd control

Unlike the situation near Cloudcroft with excessive numbers of wild horses, the Alto herd stays at about 15 horses, Campos said. She's working with a group that uses annual inoculations to keep mares from reproducing, as a possible means of controlling the number of horses locally, she said. The stallion and alpha mare stay high on the mountain, she said.

"I've been doing this eight years and (the herd size) has never gotten over 14 to 15, because the boys get kicked out," she said. "Through the foundation (she formed), we've adopted out five of them to wonderful homes. One is being started under saddle. Rock Star was placed in an amazing home beyond Nogal. He stayed three weeks and broke out and came back to me. I realized he adopted us. That's how he ended up being gelded and staying in the area and becoming everybody's pet."

One neighbor reported that Rock Star followed his dogs into his living room and another said she found him looking at her through a bedroom window.

"This lady (who complained and penned Rock Star for Hatfield) said she tried to contact people to help her," Campos said. "I have mugs with the group name and there are pictures. Ask anybody. Ask at convenience stores. The newspaper has done stories in the past about one of the horses with a bad foot who was stranded. We got the foot fixed and released him. I've been doing this a while."

"She didn't talk to any of the neighbors," Tom Blaney said, adding that Hatfield drove past his wife with the horse in the trailer, "(The brand inspector) could have stopped and asked," he said. "It was a gelding and that should have been a red flag. Everything he did was within the letter of the law, but he should have contacted (one of the advocates). He knew someone would have taken care of him."

Residents also were upset that the Livestock Board changed its method of notifying the public about stray horses picked up, from publishing notices in the newspaper to listing them online under "Lost, Found, Estray" on the Livestock Board's website www.nmlbonline.com.

Lee and Rima Davis, 19-year residents of the Alto area, said they want to help with the effort to protect the herd, but were not interested in joining any "witch hunt" against the woman who complained or the brand inspector. "Have a system established," Lee Davis said. "The state will not change its procedures, so we need to be part of the communication to fit into the state network. This is a nation of laws. That's the strength of our country."

"It would save the state money (to work with the advocate group)," Rima Davis said. "They had to transport and feed the horses."